Can Paripoorna turnaround BJP fortunes?

It looks like Bharatiya Janata Party national leadership has pinned its hopes on Swamy Paripoornananda, controversial spiritual leader to improve its fortunes in Telangana.

Paripoorna joined the BJP in the presence of party national president Amit Shah and other top leaders of the party in New Delhi on Friday.

“I have joined the BJP as a Karma Yogi. I will do my best for the party, as I had done as a spiritual leader. Being a member of the BJP family, I will work round the clock for the sake of the party in the Telugu states,” he said.

While the BJP leadership is planning to use him as a star campaigner in the ensuing assembly elections in Telangana, reports from New Delhi said the party might project him as the chief ministerial candidate of the party and field him from one of the constituencies in Hyderabad.

In all probability, Paripoorna might contest from Khairatabad constituency, as there is a talk that the BJP leadership might not give ticket to sitting MLA Chintala Ramachandra Reddy.

If it is not possible, the Swamiji might prefer Jubilee Hills to contest the polls, as he has a lot of fan following there.

There is another talk that Paripoorna will confine himself to campaigning for the party in the assembly elections and would be fielded in the Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad or Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency.

In any case, Paripoorna’s entry is believed to be the game changer for the BJP in Telangana.

During his recent visit to Telangana, BJP national president Amit Shah clearly told the party leaders and cadre that the party should improve its chances only by adopting hardline Hindutva stand and not the soft approach, mainly because of the MIM dominance in many parts of the state.

That is precisely why Amit Shah chose Swamy Paripoornanda who kicked up a storm by making incendiary speeches. His recent externment is sought to be exploited by Hindutva organisations to bring in votes from the Hindu community.

The party has also got the reports that Paripoornananda has a huge following among tribals in the northern Telangana. This would be a big plus point for the BJP in these districts, the party leader said.